Automatic air regulator for incubators



1938. .J. WARNER AUTOMATIC AIR REGULATOR FOR INCUBATORS Filed July 11, 1936 3mm (IL. I Varner Patented Feb. s, 1938 AUTOMATIC Am REGULATOR. FOR INCU- l BATORS John L. Warner, Fremont, Nebr.

V I 6 Claims.

This invention relates to the class of animal husbandry and pertains particularly to improve 'ments in incubators.

g incubators of the typesnw in use, provie .sionismade for the introduction of air by means andiwhjich haveapertures therein which are L jwhicihmaybe moved across the air inlet'openings lQjbrought into alinement' with the air openings;

-whereby the. air openings will be uncovered or covered, in accordance withithe temperature of 'Ihe present invention has' for its primary object Ito improveuponthis method of controlling the I; supplying of air to the incubators by the provision of a thermostatically controlled. valve plate the room inwhichthe incubator is placed.

;;"1Anotherobject of the invention is to provide-a *novel gmeans of controlling the admission of air into an incubator which comprises the'mounting of a shaft upon the outside of the incubator struc- -ture,' .upon1which shaft cover plates are carried l """formovement relative to air apertures in thew'all of the incubator structureand with which shaft 5 1a temperature actuated thermostatwaier is connected so thattheexpansion and contraction'of the wafer will effect the oscillationof the'shaft 1 for'the movement of the cover. plates toward .or

Jvide a deviceof the above described character away from the air openings. Still another object of the invention is to pro which. is readily adjusted so that the device can be made to operate at any desired room temperature. g The invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description taken inIconnectionwith the accompanying drawingforming part of this specification, with the understanding, however, that the invention is not ,confinedto any strict conformity with the showing of the drawing but may be changed or modi- 1 I fied so long as such changes or modifications mark no material departure from the salient features of "the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

:Inthe drawing: v

Figure l is a view in perspective of a portion I ofaa wall of an incubator structure showing the device embodying the pr'esentinvention applied ;to-the exterior thereof.

awall and looking atone end ofthe air control unit mounted thereon.

Referring nowmoreparticularly to the drawing 7 j presentprovided with air inletapertures, prefer Q gablyin the back wall, as indicated at}, and as Y '1 previously stated these apertures areat the pres-.

ent time controlled by manually actuated slides. v

. v I pr apertures in a Wall, which are controlled by.

"; hand-operated slide valves in the form of plates 7 free. ends secured to the shaft 3.

Fig. 2, is a'verticalsectional view through the The present invention comprises an oscillatable Application July 11, 1936, Serial-N0. 90,240

shaft 3 which is mounted in spaced parallel relation with the apertured incubator wall, in bearings' l which may be secured in any suitable manner to the incubator but which are here illustrated as being carried by arms 5 which are secured to plates 6 and these plates are secured to the sidewall of the incubator in the manner shown; The shaft 3 at one end is turned to extend outwardlyfrom the incubator wall forming thearm 1 upon which balance weights 8 are threadably secured, and at its other end there is secured to the shaft a vertical longitudinally V slotted arm 9 which is here illustrated as being formed of a wire body bent upon itself to form the two spaced parallel portions which have their Obviously this maybe in the form of a rigid plate having a slot punched or cuttherethrough.

Extending through the slot is of the slotted arm 9 is a threaded post I I which is flattened, as

indicated at I2 at its outer end which has threaded thereon the spaced wing nuts it which are disposed upon opposite sides of the slotted arm 9 and which,;when brought together, clamp the arm between them so as to hold the threaded bar I l in any position of adjustment longitudinally of the slotted arm. y

The inner end ofthe threaded bar I l is secured in ahub'l l which is carried upon one side of the thermostatic wafer which is indicated generally the bar I l, is the threaded end of a screw i! which has an eye l8 upon. the .end directed toward the incubator wall and this eye is drawn into engaging relation with the slotted arm by the nut i9 so that the screw may be secured firmly in position upon thearm. -The wall I of the incubator carries an .eye 20 opposite the screw eye 18 and connected between these eyes l8 and 2!! is a contractile spring 2] which normally tends to pull the upper end of the arm 9 in toward the incubator wall and thus maintain a firm contact between the end of the stud l6 and the wall.

Secured tothe shaft 3 are a number of upwardly and inwardly directed arms 22, corresponding in number with the apertures 2 in the wall of the incubator and each of these arms carries a vertically arranged valve plate 23 which is adapted to position flat against theincubator wall and cover an airopening 2.

From the foregoing it will be readily apparent that at a particular room temperature the plates 23:willlie firmly against the surface of the incubator wall and coverv the openings 2 and the end of the thermostatic wafer stud IE will be in firm contact withthe wall, being retained there by the spring 2!. Upon an increase in room temperature the wafer IE will expand so as to exert pressure against the wall l and force the slotted arm 9 outwardly to effect the oscillation of the shaft 3 in a direction to move the plates 23 away from the incubator wall, thus uncovering the apertures 2. The reverse action, of course, will take place when the temperature of the room decreases so that the interior of the incubator may be kept at a substantially constant desired temperature. It will be obvious that the delicacy of operation of the device may be regulated by adjusting the position of the weights 8 upon the arm 7 and also that other adjustments may be made by loosening the wing nuts l3 and shifting them together upon the threaded bar H, so that the wafer is moved outwardly from the incubator wall a higher degree of outside temperature will be necessary to effect the movement of the plates 23 from over the openings, but if the threaded bar is moved inwardly toward the wall the device can be initially set with the plates moved away from the openings so that a cooler temperature will be required to close the openings.

While the mechanism disclosed has been illustraded and described as being disposed upon the outside of an incubator wall to control the flow of air into the incubator, it will be readily appreciated that this mechanism might be mounted upon the inside of the incubator wall for the p-urpose of regulating the outflow of air therefrom. Such air outflow regulation is particularly desirable in incubators during the period immediately preceding the hatching of the eggs.

I claimi 1. In an incubator having a wall provided with air openings, a bar member'disposed horizontally of the wall and supported for axial oscillation, arms carried by said bar, cover plates carried by said arms and each. adapted to contact the adjacent wall and cover an opening, an upwardly directed arm carried by said bar and disposed in spaced relation with the incubator wall, resilient means coupling the arm with the wall and normally tending to oscillate the same in a direction to effect the engagement of said plates with the wall, and a thermostatic wafer interposed between said last arm and said wall and bearing at one side upon the wall and at its other side having connection with said arm.

2. In an incubator having a wall provided with air openings, a bar member disposed horizontally of the wall and supported for axial oscillation, arms carried by said bar, cover plates carried by said arms and each adapted to contact the adjacent wall and cover an opening, an upwardly directed arm carried by said bar and disposed in spaced relation with the incubator wall, resilient means coupling the arm with the wall and. normally tending to oscillate the same in a direction to effect the engagement of said plates with the wall, said arm being longitudinally slotted, a thermostatic wafer having oppositely directed central studs, the wafer being disposed between said wall and the slotted arm and having one of the studs in contact with the wall, a threaded bar extending through the slot of the slotted arm and engaging at one end with the other of said studs, and a pair of wing nuts upon said threaded bar and having said slotted bar secured therebetween.

3. In an incubator having a wall provided with air openings, at bar member disposed horizontally of the wall and supported for axial oscillation, arms carried by said bar, cover plates carried by said arms and each adapted to contact the adjacent wall and cover an opening, an upwardly directed arm carried by said bar and disposed in spaced relation with the incubator wall, resilient means coupling the arm with the wall and normally tending to oscillate the same in a direction to efiect the engagement of said plates with the wall, said arm being longitudinally slotted, a thermostatic wafer having oppositely directed central studs, the wafer being disposed between said wall and the slotted arm and having one of the studs in contact with the wall, a threaded bar extending through the slot of the slotted arm and engaging-at one end with the other of said studs, a pair of wing nuts upon said threaded bar and having said slotted bar secured therebetween, and counterbalance means carried by the oscillatable bar. a

4. In a structure having a compartment with a wall provided with an opening, a bar mounted in parallel relation with the wall and adapted to have axial oscillation, a covering element for said opening supported bythe bar for movement relative to the opening when the bar is oscillated, an arm carried by the bar and normally eXtend-' ing in substantially parallel relation with the adjacent wall surface and adapted to have limited arcuate swinging movement with the bar, a thermostatic element interposed between the arm and said wall surface and having connection upon one side with the arm and connected upon its other. side with said wall, said element when expanded oscillating said bar by imparting arouate movement to the bar, and resilient means coupling the arm with the wall and normally urging said bar to oscillate in opposition to the action of the thermostatic element when expanded.

5. In a-structure having a compartment with' a wall provided with an opening, a bar mounted in parallel relation with the wall and adapted to have axial oscillation, a covering element for said opening supported by the bar for movement relative to the opening when the bar is oscillated, a thermostatic element, coupling means between the bar and said element by which the bar will be given axial rocking movement when the element reacts to a temperature change, resilient means coupled with said bar and normally urging the same to oscillate in one direction, said thermostatic element upon reaction to a temperature change urging the bar to oscillate in opposition to the resilient means, and counterbalance means associated with the bar and acting in opposition to the urge of said resilient means.

6. In a structure having a compartment with a wall provided with an opening, a bar mounted in parallel relation with the wall and adapted to have axial oscillation, a covering element for said opening supported by the bar for movement relative to the opening when the bar is oscillated, a longitudinally slotted arm secured at one end to said bar and normally maintaining a substantially parallel relation with the adjacent wall, a thermostatic wafer disposed between said slotted arm and the adjacent wall and having contact upon one side with the wall, a stud extending from the other side of said wafer through said slotted arm, means for adjustably securing the stud with the slotted arm whereby the wafer may be shifted toward or away from the bar, and resilient means coupled with the bar and normally urging the same to oscillate in a direction to move said wafer toward the adjacent wall.

JOHN L. WARNER. 

